Raven’s Gully Direct

On February 8, 2013 by Tim Neill

Raven’s Gully and Direct Finish, Buachaille Etive Mor. 08/02/13

It’s not often this is in condition. Well, we didn’t know this for sure, but Keith and Matt had climbed Crowberry gully the day before in fabulous conditions (first ascents of the season probably), so it was a reasonable guess.

With a lot of history pouring out of the gully walls, the route gets off to a wild start with the first gargantuan chockstone.It would be very easy to fail in the first 10ft of this climb! This epic tussle is followed by many more, then it’s decision time….direct finish or original route. To say the direct looks intimidating is an understatement, and it’s much harder than it looks. Wild. It’s a good job for most climbers who climb big winter grades that this one isn’t a benchmark testpiece.

Chapeau to Messrs MacInnes, Bonnington, Chouinard and Tompkins. Got Hamish to autograph my Coe guidebook the next morning. Brilliant!